Ship stabilizer



1964 L. STRUMSKIS 55,065

SHIP STABILIZER Filed May 3, 1963 I INVENTOR [0111s Sfrumskli United States Patent 3,155,065 SHIP STABILIZER Louis Strunlskis, PD. Box 101, Span, Fla. Filed May 3, 1963, Ser. No. 277,858 Claims. (Cl. 114-122) This invention relates to ship construction and, more particularly, to structure and mechanism that will not only prevent the roll and pitch of ships, but also provide a new method of both propelling and steering SlllPS at low as well as at high speeds, and the elimination of cavitation found in ordinary propellers at high speeds.

The many well-known improvements that have been made throughout the years in ship stabilization, propulsion, and steering are too well-known by those exerienced in the art to need even briefly mentioning here; however, it should be noted that my invention 1s based upon a well-known but never before tried concept insofar as actual structure is concerned, as will be hereinafter described.

It is the principal object of my invention to provide a ship stabilizer that is operated by the action of the water passing through certain conducting pipes, as will be hereinafter described.

Another object of this invention is to provide a ship stabilizer that has its stabilizing movements made with a hydraulic jack activated by a gyroscope.

Another object of this invention is to provide a ship stabilizer in connection with the propelling mechanism that will eliminate cavitation found in the ordinary propeller movement at high speed.

Another object of this invention is to provide a ship stabilizer that is so constructed as to also do away with the necessity of a rudder for steering by reason of the action of the water passing through the pipes and acting on the fins, as will be described in detail later on in this specification.

Still another object of this invention is to provide a ship stabilizer that can readily be adapted to any ship now in use with but a minimum of modification to the ships structure and mechanism.

Other and further objects and advantages of this ship stabilizer will be hereinafter described, and the novel features thereof defined in the appended claims.

Referring to the drawing:

FIGURE 1 is a top view of a typical hull of a ship with this invention installed in the same.

FIGURE 2 is a side view of a ship showing this invention installed on the same.

FIGURE 3 is a side view of the stabilizing fins and their hydraulic jack as indicated by the arrowed line and numeral 3 on FIGURES l and 5.

FIGURE 4 is a sectional view taken along line 44 of FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 5 is a perspective view of this invention in the bottom of a ship, the outline of which is shown in phantom lines.

Similar reference characters refer to similar parts throughout the several views of the drawing.

Having reference now to the drawing in detail, there is generally indicated by the character 8 a ships hull in which is located a water conducting tube 9 that extends from the bow 10 of the ship to the stern 11. The tube 9 is Y-shaped at the bow and is provided with a pair of parallel and spaced, forward facing openings 12, to which is connected a sliding gate mechanism 13 that controls the amount of water entering the aforesaid conducting tube 9. A suitable power supply unit 14 of any desired type is located just above the tube 9 which is provided with a propeller housing 15 having a propeller 16 of the multiple blade type located therein. The power supply unit and the propeller and housing are located in the 3,155,065 Patented Nov. 3, 1964 stern portion of the ship. The aforesaid conducting tube terminates at the stern in an outlet 17 having a sliding door valve 18.

A separate stabilizing unit 19 is located on one side of the ship, while an alike stabilizing unit 20 is located on the other side of the ship. Each stabilizing unit embodies a conducting tube 21 having a Water inlet 22 on the forward end thereof. Each water inlet comprises a fin supporting structure 23, in which is located a plurality of fins 24 having a supporting shaft 25 at one end thereof and a second supporting shaft 26 at the opposite end of the fin 24. The supporting shaft 25 terminates in a bearing housed in a cap 28, while the supporting shaft 26 passes through a bearing 29 and terminates in a hydraulic jack operating mechanism 30 that is operated by the hydraulic jack 31, which is activated by a gyroscope 35. One takeoff fromthis gyroscope is connected by line 36 to the hydraulic jack 31 in tube 9 and another take'ofi is connected by lines 37 to hydraulic jacks 31 in tubes 19 and 20. This gyroscope operates the jacks in a conventional manner well known in the ship stabilization art. A sliding gate 32 is so adapted to the water inlet 22 as to permit repairs to any one stabilizing unit while the ship is in motion. A manhole 33 is also located in the top of the water conducting tubes 9 and 21 near the front end of the tube, and an alike manhole is in the top of the rear portion of the same tubes, as clearly shown in FIGURES 1 and 5 of the appended drawing. The purpose of these manholes is, of course, to permit one to clean out and/or repair the tubes whenever necessary.

While the structural components of this invention have been described both in detail and in relation to each other, one must realize that changes may be made in the same and the invention will still come within the limitations of the appended claims. For example, the power supply unit can very Well be eliminated as it is thought of in the usual sense, and the propellers 15 can be rotated by steam acting directly on the propeller housing 15 in a manner similar to steam turbines. The pitch of the propeller blades can be automatically adjusted to any forward or reverse movement without the necessity of stopping its rotational move ment. The feathering of the propeller blades is sometimes desired and can, of course, be done by mechanism well known in the art when one desires constant speed for high efficiency. The feathering of the propellers of a ship would be similar to the feathering of the propellers of an airplane. The main source of the .ships thrust, aside from the pull-push effect of the water flowing through the tubes on the water outside the ship, is the biting effect of the rotating propeller blades on the water; therefore, bearings (not shown in the drawing) are placed externally on either side of the aforesaid housing 15, in order to support the constant thrust produced by the propeller.

For more efiicient guiding or steering of a ship than is possible with the present well-known rudder system, the blades 34 that are located in the outlets 17 may be mounted vertically, even while there is no forward or backward movement of the ship, if the water in the center tube, that is, the conducting tube 9, is caused to flow in reverse.

It may be well to remark at this time that the water inlets 22, which are parallel to the ships side, do not protrude and in any way interfere with the docking of the ship, but rather help the docking by eliminating the use of tug service. The fins 24 located within the aforesaid water inlets 22 on each side of the ship obviously control the roll of the ship on which they are located, since these fins will operate inversely to each other at the automatic command of the already mentioned gyroscopes. The novel way in which the fins 24 are parallel to the side of the ship will naturally reduce the rolling motion of the ship without the necessity of reducing the ships speed in order to reduce the side shock that is created by the use of the wing-type stabilizers.

As changes in the construction could be made within the scope of the invention, it is intended that all matter contained in the foregoing description or shown in the accompanying drawing shall be interpreted as illustrative andnot in a limiting sense.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

1. A ship stabilizer of the character described, comprising three water conducting tubes mounted within the hull of a ship, one of the said tubes extending from the bow to the stern of the said ship, and each of the two remaining tubes mounted on each side of the said ship, and each tube having a mechanically controlled water inlet and a water outlet having a plurality of blades therein, and a propeller of the rnulti-blade type mounted within each one of the said tubes, and a power unit operating each propeller, and the mechanical mechanism of each water ihlet on the side of the said ship being automatically operated by a gyroscope, thereby providing automatic stabilization of the said ship.

2. A ship stabilizer of the character described, comprising three water conducting tubes mounted within the hull of a ship, one of the said tubes extending from the bow to the stern of the said ship, and each of the two remaining tubes mounted on each side of the said ship, and each tube having a mechanically controlled water inlet and a water outlet having a plurality of blades therein, and a propeller of the multi-blade type mounted within each one of the said tubes, and a power unit operating each propeller, and the mechanical mechanism of each water inlet embodying a plurality of swingably mounted, horizontally disposed fins in equal vertical-spaced relation to each other, the said fins being mechanically connected to a hydraulic jack automatically operated by a gyroscope, thereby providing automatic stabilization of the said ship.

3. A ship stabilizer of the character described, comprising three water conducting tubes mounted within the hull of a ship, one of said tubes extending from the bow to the stern of the said ship, and each of the two remaining tubes mounted on each side of the said ship, and each tube having a mechanically controlled water inlet and a water outlet having a plurality of blades therein, the said outlet blades of said two remaining tubes being mounted vertically, thereby providing an improved means of steering the said ship, and a propeller of the multi-blade type mounted within each of one of the said tubes, and a power unit operating each propeller, and the mechanical mechanism of each water inlet embodying a plurality of swingably mounted, horizontally disposed fins in equal verticalspaced relation to each other, the said fins being mechanically connected to a hydraulic jack automatically operated by a gyroscope, thereby providing automatic stabilization of the said ship,

4. A ship stabilizer of the character described, comprising three water conducting tubes mounted within the hull of a ship, one of the said tubes extending from the bow to the stern of the said ship, and each of the two remaining tubes mounted on each side of the said ship, and each tube having a mechanically controlled water inlet and a water outlet having a plurality of blades therein, the said outlet blades of said two remaining tubes being mounted vertically, thereby providing an improved means of steering the said ship, and a propeller of the multi-blade type mounted within each one of the said tubes, and a power unit operating each propeller, and the mechanical mechanism of each water inlet embodying a plurality of swingably mounted, horizontally disposed fins in equal verticalspaced relation to each other, the said fins being mechanically connected to a hydraulic jack automatically operated by a gyroscope, thereby providing automatic stabilization of the said ship, and each said water inlet having a sliding door valve therein, thereby providing a means of preventing water from entering the water conducting tubes while they are being repaired or cleaned out, and a manhole in the upper and forward and rearward ends of each of the three water conducting tubes, the manholes also providing a means of maintenance of the inside of the said water conducting tubes.

5. A ship stabilizer of the character described, comprising three water conducting tubes mounted within the hull of a ship, one of the said tubes being Y-shaped at the bow of the said ship and extending from the bow to the stern of the said ship, and each of the two remaining tubes mountd on each side of the said ship, and each tube having a mechanically controlled water inlet and a water outlet having a plurality of blades therein, the said outlet blades of said two removing tubes being mounted vertically, thereby providing an improved means of steering the said ship, and a propeller of the multi-blade type mounted on bearings and within each one of the said tubes, and a power unit operating each propeller, and the mechanical mechanism of each water inlet embodying a plurality of swingably mounted, horizontally disposed fins in equal vertical-spaced relation to each other, the said fins being mechanically connected to a hydraulic jack automatically operated by a gyrosope, thereby providing automatic stabilization of the said ship, and each said water inlet having a sliding door valve therein, thereby providing a means of preventing water from entering the Water conducting tubes while they are being repaired or cleaned out, and a manhole in the upper and forward and rearward ends of each of the three water conducting tubes, the manholes also providing a means of maintenance of the inside of the said water conducting tubes.

No references cited, 

1. A SHIP STABILIZER OF THE CHARACTER DESCRIBED, COMPRISING THREE WATER CONDUCTING TUBES MOUNTED WITHIN THE HULL OF A SHIP, ONE OF THE SAID TUBES EXTENDING FROM THE BOW TO THE STERN OF THE SAID SHIP, AND EACH OF THE TWO REMAINING TUBES MOUNTED ON EACH SIDE OF THE SAID SHIP, AND EACH TUBE HAVING A MECHANICALLY CONTROLLED WATER INLET AND A WATER OUTLET HAVING A PLURALITY OF BLADES THEREIN, AND A PROPELLER OF THE MULTI-BLADE TYPE MOUNTED WITHIN EACH ONE OF THE SAID TUBES, AND A POWER UNIT OPERATING EACH PROPELLER, AND THE MECHANICAL MECHANISM OF EACH WATER INLET ON THE SIDE OF THE SAID SHIP BEING AUTOMATICALLY OPERATED BY A GYROSCOPE, THEREBY PROVIDING AUTOMATIC STABILIZATION OF THE SAID SHIP. 